


between the lines

by weegee1204



Series: For Future Reference Universe [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Kid Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Kid Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Kid Fic, Kid Logic | Logan Sanders, M/M, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28604958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/weegee1204/pseuds/weegee1204
Summary: The kids are sick. Their parents help.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: For Future Reference Universe [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858879
Comments: 13
Kudos: 116





	between the lines

**Author's Note:**

> WARNINGS FOR: Brief descriptions of illness, including fevers and vomiting, as well as describing a character taking medicine.
> 
> this is a sequel oneshot to my WIP fic [Starting New Chapters](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25736098/chapters/62494876)\-- you don't have to read SNC first to understand this, and while this fic will contain spoilers for the ending of SNC, i still encourage you to read it if you enjoy this AU! (mainly because i want to keep writing for this AU, and who knows when i'll have the time to actually finish a multichap fic like that xD)
> 
> Anyways, all you really need to know is: Patton and Janus are married with three kids (Logan, age 10, and twins Roman and Remus, age 3), and they have been 'dating' Virgil for about 3 years (Virgil is aromantic, probably greyromantic, hence the quotes around 'dating').

Being a parent for almost a decade taught you certain things about children. How to comfort them, how to protect them, how to love them unconditionally. How to teach them right from wrong, and how to show them the way the world works, and how to help them grow as happy and healthy human beings.

None of those skills were as helpful as being able to tell when a child was out of bed in the middle of the night.

Janus didn’t know what exactly had woken him up. Maybe it was the creak of a bedroom door. Maybe it was the thumps of a pair of bare feet moving down the stairs. Maybe it was the clumsy sound of a wooden kitchen chair being dragged across a linoleum floor.

Whatever the reason, he found himself suddenly awake, staring at the ceiling as he resigned himself to the fact that one of his kids was absolutely up past bedtime.

He rolled over, only to find Patton already staring back at him.

“Your son is awake.”

Janus closed his eyes again. “Before sunrise, he’s your son.”

On Janus’ other side, Virgil snorted himself awake. 

“Too early to quote Disney,” he slurred before blinking awake. “Why is it early.”

“Kid’s awake,” Patton replied.

“All of ‘em?”

“Better not,” Janus said. Patton sighed, dragging a hand down his face.

“I’ll check.” He threw his legs over the bed, dipping the mattress and making Virgil roll into Janus. When he left and the mattress was righted, Virgil didn’t let go.

Janus dragged his eyes over, blinking slowly. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Virgil replied, nuzzling his face into Janus’ shoulder. “How you feelin’?”

“Fine.”

“Fine’s not great.”

“Fine is fine, shut up.”

He fumbled to find Virgil’s hand in the dark, squeezing it tightly. Virgil repeated the gesture before sighing, rolling over even more to shove his face into the pillow.

“You need a new mattress,” his muffled voice said.

“Oh, do we?” Janus replied tiredly. Virgil nodded.

“For your leg.”

“How’s a new mattress gonna help my leg?”

Virgil raised and dropped one shoulder in a weak shrug. “Posture and shit.”

“How clinical,” Janus deadpanned. Virgil turned his head to look at him, his cheek marked with the pillow’s texture.

“It’s three A.M., bite me.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Janus replied, then paused. He and Virgil looked at each other for a moment, slow smirks growing on their faces.

“Knock knock!” Patton called, stopping them from moving forward with any biting-related activities; his instincts to warn his partners before entering were correct, because when the two of them turned to the door, all they could make out was the silhouette of Patton with a little one in his arms.

Virgil sat up, switching on the bedside lamp. “Hey, Roman.”

“Hello, darling,” Janus immediately added. The little boy was slumped in Patton’s arms, his cheek resting against his father’s broad chest. His eyes blinked slowly, taking in the sight of his parents on the bed and greeting them with a small wave.

“Hi, Papa, hi, Bibi,” he said softly, his usually bright voice dampened with exhaustion.

Janus made grabby hands as Patton moved closer, shifting the child with ease into his arms. Janus turned him around and began smoothing a hand through his hair, but stopped when the palm of his hand brushed against Roman’s forehead.

He and Virgil’s eyes met at once, just as Patton sighed and nodded.

“Bad news, buckaroos— he’s got a temperature,” Patton said lightly, sitting on the edge of the bed and laying a hand on Roman’s cheek. “Got all the way out of bed to get some water, didn’t you?”

At this, he lifted up the plastic sippy cup he’d been carrying in his other hand. Roman nodded, weakly reaching out from where he sat in Janus’ lap.

“I’m thirsty.”

Janus tutted, pulling his son into his chest and kissing the back of his head.

“I know, poor baby,” he murmured, taking the sippy cup from Patton’s outstretched hand. As he leaned back and began helping Roman drink from the cup, Virgil caught Patton’s eye and gestured his head toward their attached bathroom. Patton nodded, and the two moved away from the bed to reconvene in the bathroom.

“It’s probably the flu,” Patton started as soon as the door was shut, already rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Virgil leaned back against the door and crossed his arms.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Patton said, the fatigue in his voice nearly gone and replaced with concern. “Apparently the whole preschool’s got it.”

“You checked Remus yet?” Virgil asked. Patton shrugged, pulling a bottle up to his eyes so he could squint at the label.

“I’ll stick my head in there— if he’s awake, then yeah, we’ll see,” he confirmed. He turned to Virgil and held up the bottle, the label of the store-brand flu medicine on full display.

Virgil gave a sympathetic wince. “Uh oh.”

“Yep,” Patton replied, smiling in resignation. He moved to open the bottle but Virgil held out a hand to stop him.

“We got it. You check the kids.”

The other man didn’t even protest, merely shooting Virgil a grateful grin and pressing the bottle into his hands.

“Good luck,” he said as he moved past Virgil to push open the door, letting the bathroom light spill into their bedroom.

By now, Roman’s sippy cup was empty and laying discarded on the bedside table, while the child himself was still tucked warmly against Janus’ chest. He was murmuring lowly to Roman as Virgil approached the bed, although his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of the bottle concealed in Virgil’s palm.

“Roman?” he said, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. “Bibi and I are gonna get you some medicine, okay?”

Of course, this announcement was met with muted whines and emphatic head shakes from the toddler.

“I don’t _want_ medicine.”

Virgil moved to sit at the foot of the bed, facing Roman as he said, “I know, Romie, but it’ll make you feel better.”

Again Roman shook his head, new tears forming in his eyes. “It’s gross in my mouth.”

“It’s gross, and it’ll make you feel better,” Janus continued gently, moving to stroke Roman’s hair again, but the toddler ducked away from his hand and fought to wriggle out of his lap. Janus let him go immediately, and Roman crawled right away until he was sitting between his parents on the bed.

Virgil and Janus exchanged a sympathetic glance. Roman wasn’t even trying to run away; he was just sitting there, tears dangerously close to spilling over, and his hands picked at the comforter without meaning.

“Roman…” Janus said quietly. Roman looked up at them, just as his exhausted tears began to fall. 

“Come here,” Virgil urged gently, pulling Roman into his lap and wrapping his arms around his back. Janus scooted forward, laying a gentle hand on Roman’s head and stroking his hair as he cried.

“Shh, it’s okay, honey,” Virgil whispered, rocking Roman back and forth. “It’s okay. We’ll help you. It’ll make you feel so much better. You feel pretty yucky right now, huh?”

A few seconds passed before Roman pulled his face out of Virgil’s chest, sniffing pitifully. “Uh huh.”

Janus leaned forward to stroke Roman’s cheek.

“The medicine will help you feel good again. We promise, darling.”

There was silence for a few beats. Roman’s quiet cries abated, and he moved to rest his cheek against Virgil’s chest instead.

“Will you take it?” Virgil asked gently. Roman sniffed again, wiping his snotty nose on Virgil’s t-shirt (he has kids, he’s used to it) before nodding.

“Uh huh,” he whimpered. Janus leaned forward to kiss the back of his head.

“That’s very good, angel. Thank you for being so brave.”

Virgil nodded, squeezing Roman tight. “Our brave little Roman.”

He turned Roman around in his lap to face Janus, who was working on pouring the medicine into the cap. The sight of the sickly pink liquid made Roman give a shuddering exhale.

“Hey, Roman, look at this,” Virgil interjected quickly, tapping the bed’s comforter in front of Roman. “What colors can you see here?”

Roman sniffed petulantly at the distraction, but he did drop his teary eyes to the thick fabric.

“Brown,” he mumbled. “Black. White. Green.”

Virgil quirked his head. “Where’s the green?”

Roman reached out and carefully papped his hand onto a specific part of the comforter’s design.

“Flowers,” he whispered. Virgil leaned forward and hummed happily.

“Oh wow, you’re right! Good job, Roman,” he congratulated the toddler, kissing the back of his head.

Janus smiled lovingly, cooing, “Look at how clever you are, finding all the colors on the comforter.”

Roman sniffed again. “It’s ugly.”

Janus paused, raising one eyebrow as Virgil snickered into Roman’s hair.

“I think so, too,” he stage whispered. “I think your daddies need to get new bedsheets, right?”

“First a new mattress, then new bedsheets,” Janus muttered. “You just like to complain.”

“Nuh uh!” Virgil insisted, squeezing Roman again. “Roman agrees with me, right, buddy?”

“Yeah,” Roman responded quietly, a small smile on his face.

“Yeah!” Virgil repeated in a silly voice. “Your daddies’ bed is ugly, isn’t it?”

Roman nodded, more enthusiastic. “Yeah!”

“And they need to get a new bed, don’t they?”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“ _Okay_ ,” Janus interrupted with an amused eyeroll, reaching over to poke Roman’s tummy. “Don’t be snarky, mister.”

Roman smiled up at him, but his smile faded as he saw the tiny cup of medicine in his Papa’s other hand. He tensed in Virgil’s lap.

“This’ll make you feel so much better, Romie, I promise,” Virgil assured quietly as he took the cup from Janus. “We can do it on the count of three.”

After Roman’s nod, he raised the cup to the toddler’s mouth. “One, two… three!”

He pressed it to Roman’s lips, tilting his head back for the three seconds it took to swallow it all.

As soon as he pulled the cup away, Roman gagged loudly and shook his head. “Uh uh, uh uh, uh uh.”

“I know, baby, I know," Virgil immediately jumped in. He wrapped his arms around Roman and rocked him side to side. "You did such a good job. We’re so proud of you.”

He continued to murmur words of encouragement to the toddler while Janus recapped the medicine bottle. He looked up, and the two grownups shared a soft smile over Roman's head.

“Got room for a couple more?”

All three of them turned toward Patton’s voice in the doorway. As expected, he wasn't alone: not only was he holding Remus in his arms, but Logan was there too, standing behind him and a bit to the side.

“Hey, guys," Virgil said, shooting them a pitying smile. "How are you?”

“Logan was throwing up in their bathroom,” Patton informed them without preamble. Logan nodded, looking appropriately miserable as he leaned against the wall.

Patton moved to perch on the end of the bed as he continued, “And Remus _was_ asleep, but then he woke up when I opened his door and his hair was all sweaty and I took his temperature and—”

“And long story short, we got three sick kiddos tonight," Janus finished, putting his hand on Remus' forehead and twisting his mouth in displeasure. He looked to Virgil, who returned his look with a resigned smile.

“Medicine round two?”

It took a couple minutes of rearranging— Remus wanted to switch to sitting in Janus’ lap, and Logan moved to sit next to Virgil, since was very clearly swaying where he stood— but finally Patton was able to pass the medicine cup to Logan. Before he could take a sip, however, Roman reached up to yank at Logan’s shirt sleeve.

“Logi, it’s gross,” he said desperately. “It’s gross, Bibi has to help you drink it.”

Logan scowled, pulling his arm away from his brother’s grasp. “No, he doesn’t.”

"Hey," Janus said lowly in warning, but Virgil was quicker, wrapping his arms tighter around Roman and rocking him slightly.

“Don’t worry, Roman," he assured the child gently. "Logan’s a big kid. He can do it by himself, watch.”

He turned his gaze onto Logan, and Roman did the same, watching with fearful eyes. Logan paused before nodding firmly, throwing his head back and downing the medicine as if the 10-year-old was taking a shot.

“See, Roman?" he said haughtily once he swallowed. "It is not that bad.”

He reached his arm out to pass the medicine cap over to Patton, but before he could pull back Roman grabbed his hand in his own pudgy grip.

“Are you _okay_?” he pleaded. Logan paused again, and after a moment Virgil saw his expression soften.

“Yeah, Roman," he said softly. "I’m okay.”

That appeasement seemed to temporarily satisfy Roman, but he still craned his body in Virgil’s hold, looking for his twin. 

“Remus…” he whined. Virgil shifted then around so they were facing the others, but Remus was already handing the medicine cap back to Patton.

“I am okay, thank you," he informed Roman immediately. Virgil felt Roman relax back into his arms, and Remus did the same, slumping backwards against Janus’ chest.

Patton clicked his tongue.

“Poor baby,” he cooed, leaning forward to brush Remus’ hair back. “You were just trying to sleep.”

Remus nodded, bunching up the hem of Janus’ shirt in his hands. “I’m sleepy.”

“I know, darling,” Janus said softly. “We’re all done now, and we’re gonna get everyone back to bed—”

Remus looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

“Can I please sleep with you?”

All three grown ups paused. That… was such a loaded question from any child. Yes, their love for their children was endless and forever and knew no bounds, of _course_ — except that the presence of a sickly toddler in their bed might make it hard for them to, you know. Sleep.

“Um—” Janus started, but already Roman was twisting around to look between his parents. 

“I wanna— I wanna sleep with you, too!” he said, new tears already forming in his eyes. Remus wasn’t crying like his brother, but he was looking particularly lovable with his well-practiced begging face. Logan stayed silent, but he did slump farther back into the pillows, already struggling to keep his eyes open much longer.

Virgil looked at Janus, and Janus looked at Patton, and Patton made a snap decision.

“Yep,” he decided. “We can all sleep together, so everybody’s gonna have to scooch over.”

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity for the grownups, while the kids stayed in bed in various states of consciousness. 

Janus grabbed the kids’ favorite comfort items from their bedrooms— Remus’ baby blanket that was covered in planets and stars, Roman’s favorite stuffed animal (a teal dinosaur named Roary), and Logan’s weighted blanket with the Periodic Tables of Elements displayed on one side.

Patton raided the bathrooms for trash cans, which were placed on either side of the bed (and gosh, _please_ let them get through the rest of the night without anybody else throwing up).

And Virgil returned with extra throw blankets, because he knew that every single member of this family was a big ol’ blanket hog and he wasn’t gonna stand for it.

“Okay, everybody’s gonna have to squeeze, squeeze, squeeze!” Patton instructed as the grownups clambered back onto the bed as gently as possible.

“Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze,” Remus echoed softly, squishy his blankie in his hands. 

It took a minute, but finally they were in some sort of order that everyone agreed with. The grown ups returned to their original positions of Patton on the outside, Janus in the middle, and Virgil on the other side; however, the twins were now snuggled tightly in the empty spaces between them, and Logan was now taking up the last sliver of mattress space on Virgil’s other side.

“Good job, gang,” Janus said, voice tired but warm. He craned his neck as much as he could. “Lo, you good?”

“Mhmm,” Logan sighed. He was laying on his side, facing away from the rest of the cuddle pile, but he still kept his back pushed against Virgil, feeling for his presence even as he drifted off to sleep.

Virgil met Janus’ eyes and nodded. He nodded back, murmuring, “Good night, everybody. I love you.”

“I love you!” Patton echoed, reaching over to ruffle both Roman’s and Remus’ hair. 

“Love you,” Virgil finished.

Remus and Logan stayed silent, somehow already fast asleep. Roman fidgeted for a few more seconds between Patton and Janus before he finally came to rest.

“Good night, Papa, good night, Daddy, good night, Bibi,” he stage-whispered. And then it was quiet.

Well. As quiet as a bedroom with three sleeping children and three exhausted adults could be. There was no way in hell any of them were getting any more sleep tonight, but that didn’t mean they weren’t gonna try.

Virgil turned his head just a bit to rest more comfortably on his pillow, only to find Janus already staring back at him. Janus raised his eyebrows.

“Good?” he whispered.

Virgil shrugged as much as he could. “You need a bigger bed.”

Janus snorted abruptly, making all three children stir. After a few tense beats, Patton raised his head to look at his partners with confusion.

His gaze was met with Janus rolling his eyes. “Bibi thinks he’s funny.”

“Bibi is very funny, thank you,” Virgil interjected. Patton shook his head, smiling in exasperation.

“Tell me in the morning.”

~

Virgil didn’t know when exactly he’d fallen asleep, so waking up was a bit of a surprise for him.

More surprising was the fact that the bed was significantly emptier than he remembered it. It was colder, too— probably because he wasn’t being cuddled by two feverish children anymore, as well as the fact that somehow, against all laws of physics, he wasn’t being covered by a single blanket. 

Blinking blearily, he turned his head, ignoring his cramping neck (when did he get so _old_ ) until he saw Janus. His partner was reclining comfortably on the other side of the mattress, rapidly typing on his phone. Virgil watched his profile for several blissful seconds.

Movement on his other side pulled him from his trance, and Virgil turned to see Patton standing in the doorway.

“Morning,” he said with a tender smile. Virgil sat up a bit further as Patton moved to sit on the end of the bed.

“Time is it?”

“Late,” Janus replied from his other side, now looking up from his phone to give Virgil a small smile. “Boys are on the couch watching sick day movies.”

Patton nodded. “We did some PT earlier, but lazybones over here wanted to get back into bed.”

Janus shrugged, unbothered by the correct accusation. “What’s the point of taking a day off work if you don’t lay in bed all day?”

“Maybe preparing to take care of our ailing children for the next who-knows-how-long?” Patton retorted dryly, resignation and concern tingeing his voice. “I really hope this blows over in a day or two.”

“Same,” Janus replied, eyes already back on his phone. “You know I love any excuse to call out, but I’d rather not lose my job over a sick day.”

“I can take some time off!” Virgil said immediately. “If you need to go back to work, either of you, or if you just need some help, I’d have no problem calling out for a couple days, I’ve got lots of sick days stacked up, or— what?”

“Do you like this?”

Virgil blinked, thrown off his rhythm. He tried to focus on the tiny screen Janus had thrust in front of him, but without his glasses or contacts it was nearly impossible.

“Um. Yes?”

Apparently that was the right answer, because Janus hummed in satisfaction. “Good, ‘cause if you’re gonna be using it then I was thinking we’d all go in on it together.”

“Sure,” Virgil said. “Wait. No. I don’t know what I’m looking at.”

Janus held the screen toward him again.

“It’s a new bed frame,” he said simply. “For our new bed.”

“Janus,” Patton interjected in a weirdly scolding tone. 

“What?” Janus replied. Patton sighed, but looked at Virgil with an exasperated smile.

“Well, that certainly wasn’t how we were planning on popping _that_ question…” he said. Virgil looked between the two of them.

“I don’t. What. You want me to help you buy a bed?”

Suddenly Janus grabbed his hand, shocking Virgil enough to look at him, but he was already staring directly into Virgil’s eyes.

“I wanted to know if you wanted to help buy _our_ new bed,” he said in a voice that… _seemed_ significant. 

“Um,” Virgil responded eloquently. “Yeah. Yeah, of course, no, yeah, I can— yeah, definitely, of course I’ll help out, how much was that one? If that’s the one you want, then yeah, of course, I’ll send you some money—”

“Virgil, do you actually get what he’s asking?” Patton interjected. Virgil paused. He’d thought he did, until he saw Janus’ smile, playful and warm.

“I… don’t think so,” he admitted. Janus quirked an eyebrow.

“Wanna move in?”

A beat of silence. Virgil opened his mouth, then closed it again.

“Oh.”

He nodded once, belatedly, and realized he was still holding Janus’ hand. The realization sent a wave of heat to his cheeks for some reason, but he didn’t let go.

“And,” Patton added, moving forward on the bed and taking Virgil’s other hand, “despite what our partner’s phrasing might imply, you don’t have to say yes. You _certainly_ don’t have to help pay for the bed,” he finished with a faux-stern look at Janus. 

Janus shrugged. “Or if you don’t like this one, we can look for other options together—” 

“Yes,” Virgil breathed, interrupting Janus. He looked to Patton, then Janus, then back and forth as fast as he could. “Yes.”

Janus paused.

“...Yes, you want to look for other options?”

Patton gave a huff of laughter.

“Oh, you’re both so cute when you’re sleepy,” he muttered before reaching over to pat Janus’ leg. “Virgil said yes to moving in, honeybee.”

Janus looked between his husband and their partner. Virgil nodded.

“Oh,” Janus said. “Great. Fantastic. Swell. I just said swell, I’m really tired, okay?”

The rest of Janus’ rambling was interrupted by Virgil yanking on his arm— maybe a bit too harshly, but fuck, how was he supposed to control himself now?— and wrapping him into a fierce hug. It only took half a second for Janus to reciprocate, squeezing Virgil tightly before the other man launched himself at Patton. Patton caught Virgil with open arms, and as he rocked them both from side to side, he pressed small, fervent kissies to his temple. Then Janus and Patton squeezed hands and shared a quick kiss, before Virgil was thrown into the middle of a three person hug.

Around and around it went for several minutes before they could detach themselves, snickering and beaming all the while.

“Got coffee downstairs,” Patton informed Virgil, giving his hand one more good squeeze before getting up.

“You coming?” Janus asked, joining Patton in the doorway.

“In a minute,” Virgil replied. “I’ll make the bed.”

They smiled at him— bright and warm and wonderful— before leaving their bedroom to join their children downstairs. Virgil looked around him, at the twisted bed sheets, the crumpled comforter, and the extra blankets left behind by their children.

“Swell,” he murmured. He didn’t care that he’d just woken up. He felt like he could lie down right now and sleep in their bed— _their bed_ — for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at [olliedollie1204](olliedollie1204.tumblr.com)!


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